Messaging apps' next threads: encryption, payments, media and ads

Until now, there have been two distinct classes of messaging apps: the big, mainstream ones, and the group focusing specifically on encryption and privacy, including TextSecure, Telegram, Hemlis, Threema, Wickr and others.

 That may be changing, with the biggest signpost being WhatsApp’s recent addition of end-to-end encryption to its Android app with iOS to follow. It’s working with the company behind TextSecure, Open Whisper Systems, which described the partnership as “the largest deployment of end-to-end encrypted communication in history”.

 The aim with this technology is to reassure users that even if the provider of their messaging app wanted to share their messages with intelligence agencies, they wouldn’t be able to. That’s a point Apple has made about its iMessages system too.

I personally think this is a very good idea as Beyond adding in features like voice calls and video chat, four main paths are emerging, although they’re by no means mutually exclusive: privacy, payments, media and ads, with the latter including advertising.

The messaging apps share some simple goals: they want to attract more users, retain the loyalty of the ones they have already, and find ways to make money that don’t conflict with the first two aims.